Precinct 5 is going to have a banner year, I can just feel it! Nothing like an overly optimistic cou

Friday

Mar 2, 2012 at 2:00 AM

We have a good amount of projects going on in the precinct.

James Cote

We have a good amount of projects going on in the precinct. The word on Main Street is that the new library is expected to open at the end of March. It’s going to be a great addition to the CLAMS libraries, and for the village it will be great to have such a beautiful state-of-the-art facility. With the help of the board of directors and the new group, The Emerging Leaders, this library will be a standout as we will be able to offer more than we have in the past with more community involvement and offerings to our younger population.

Also coming down the pipe are the renovations to the bathhouses at Joshua’s Pond. After a reallocation of funding, we should be able to get that project under way in the spring.

Oh but wait, there is more! At the last meeting with the Osterville Village Association we discussed the options that are available to us for the renovations to the East Bay boat ramp. Out of the two options, we have chosen the one that is the most cost effective, and gives us the option to grow in the future if needed.

In addition to the boat ramp, there is the much needed dredging in East Bay from the channel right up to the boat ramp; this is currently out for RFPs. Last but not least, the drawbridge in Osterville will be getting much needed attention to get the bridge up to date and in working order.

Now on to the business of the Town. We have a lot going on. As I write this we have yet to vote on some key issues like the municipal health insurance and the town manager search. So there’s not much to report on those issues. The good news is that we have been able to have some much needed workshops from various committees and groups. I can say that being so new to the council this has been a very helpful way to get a better understanding of who these groups are and what they do.

All in all, we have been able to get through our agendas easily and even finished one evening by 8:30 p.m., a record I’m sure. It’s great to see the relationships being built between councilors. We will always have eye rolling and disagreements, but in a healthy manner. As we learned in a performance team building exercise in January, different perspectives are healthy in a group. Too much of the same ideas gets boring and stagnate. So I welcome the different viewpoints, and although I may not always agree I will always try to keep an open mind.

One last thing that I feel is worth mentioning is, regardless of how the vote goes on the health insurance issue this week (again I am writing this before the vote), we have a much more serious problem on our hands nationally. Our health insurance costs keep going up! I ask all the concerned people who e-mailed me before the last meeting and all other concerned people, please e-mail or call your state reps and federal reps and voice your concerns. It might be a long shot, but it’s the best we can do right now to try to get health insurance under control.